


Stitches

by MCUsic_to_my_ears



Series: Whumptober 2019 [4]
Category: Iron Man (Comics), Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, Concussions, Harley Keener as Iron Lad, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Medical Procedures, Medical Trauma, Protective Peter Parker, Stitches, Technology, Training, Whump, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 12:37:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21015899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MCUsic_to_my_ears/pseuds/MCUsic_to_my_ears
Summary: Riri and Harley train as Peter watches. The session gets out of hand.***Whumptober 2019 Day 11: Stitches





	Stitches

Peter leaned back into his chair, grinning as he watched his boyfriend flip through the air. He glanced at the screen as it counted down before each new shot that Harley blasted away. Only a month into training, and Peter could tell: Harley was a natural. Sure, his maneuvering left something to be desired, but his aim was near perfect and he hasn't crash landed in two weeks.

Peter's concern for Harley's safety had gone down considerably. He didn't want another loved one in the line of fire but Peter had to admit that Harley was born to man a suit. 

Across the training field, Riri whooped with laughter as she sliced through her own holographic projectile. Iron Heart was only four years older than the couple, but her experience showed in each delicate twist and precise firing that cut through several targets. She didn't really need this kind of training anymore, but had been joining in ever since Tony had given Harley to take up an Iron mantle. 

The original Iron Man had long retired, giving up his seat on the Avengers to Riri, but that didn't mean he didn't still act as a mentor for all the heroes joining the ranks. New mutants seemed to pop up everyday and Tony Stark was a friend and a teacher to the all. Peter had the honor of being one of the first to receive the original superhero's attention, but he was happy to say that he wasn't the last. Riri was definitely deserving of her position as co-leader with Sam. Peter was happy to be heading up the Young Avengers on the Compound instead. After Thanos, Peter had put the large scale battles behind him. 

Now, he was watching his boyfriend transition from a tech consultant to a hero himself. The screen indicated that it was going to begin phase three of training, which Harley hadn’t practiced yet. Before Peter could disable to transition and call to Harley to take a break, the hairs on the back of his neck rose and he looked up just in time to watch Harley plummet toward the ground, the first phase three target hitting him square in the chest. These energy pulses actually had some power behind them. 

“Harley!” he shouted, shooting out his wrist before realizing that he didn’t have his web shooters with him. 

Riri heard his yell, and signalled for her targets to dissipate as she raced to catch the Iron Lad before he hit the ground. Peter flashed back to just four years earlier, nine, if you counted when he was dusted. The Civil War. Rhodes, crashing, instantly paralyzed. 

The ground of the training area was a lot more forgiving than the concrete tarmac. And, thankfully, Harley last second caught himself, slowing his fall. 

Peter and Riri reached him at the same moment. Peter's hands scrambled against his chest before he found the emergency release latch and the helmet popped open. Harley was groggy, but awake. 

"Hey." He smiled loosely at Peter. 

"Hey," Peter breathed. "I need you to release the suit for me." 

Harley frowned. 

Riri stood and stepped out of her own suit, commanding it to fly back to its storage chamber. "Keener," she instructed. "Say 'open sesame'." 

"Open sesame," he repeated, blinking at Riri. The suit deconstructed around him. As Riri cleared the metal plates away, Peter lowered Harley's head into his lap, brushing his fingers through his boyfriend's hair. 

"Parker," Riri whispered, too low for Harley to hear. 

His gaze whipped up to where the hero was working. Part of the suit's left knee joint had lodged itself into Harley's skin, blood was already seeping out. Once they removed the armor, it would be uninhibited from flowing freely. 

Peter swallowed. Not the first time, or the worst time, he'd seen gore. Not even the first time he'd seen Harley injured. That didn't stop the queasiness though. He shifted Harley's head off of his lap. The taller man squinted at Peter. "I'll be right back, Harles. Sit tight." 

"Sitting," Harley agreed, still dazed. 

Once Harley was settled, Peter sprinted back to the control center and tugged the first aid kit out. Really, it was like a mini-Med Bay, since all heroes were trained for field emergencies, and Tony wanted them to have the equipment they needed. If he had been thinking earlier, Peter would have grabbed it initially. But he was too caught up with ensuring that Harley was alive to think about what to do if he actually was. 

He skidded onto his knees beside Riri, unlatching the kit and sliding out a tournakit. He secured it tightly just above Harley's knee. 

"Hey!" Harley protested, too weak--and probably concussed, but Peter would deal with that after he closed the gaping wound--to sit up. "What're youse doin' down there?" Peter stretched a pair of gloves over his hands and readied a needle and thread. 

"Just patching you up, Iron Boy, don't worry your pretty head over it," Riri drawled. Peter gave her the signal to remove the metal before Harley could protest, "Iron  _ Lad,  _ and that's just because Tony trademarked Man". 

He yelped, and Peter wished he could ease his boyfriend's pain, but he didn't have any local anesthesia and couldn't rusk giving Harley anything else while he might have a concussion. Instead, he and Riri cleaned up the wound as quickly as they could before Peter began suturing it closed. 

"Don' do too good a job," Harley slurred. "Gotta have a good scar to impress m' boyfrien'." 

"Harley, I've seen you glue your fingers together instead of a puzzle," Peter retorted, pulling the last centimeter closed. "You're not going to impress me with this."


End file.
